Live DJing

So i have a copy of Traktor and Live and I am thinking about DJing. Right now I have a Konnekt 8 audio interface with midi and audio connections, but no seperate headphone jack for cue-ing tracks. I am not doing vinyl, just tracks on my computer.

I know almost nothing about DJing but I am pretty sure cue is pretty important unless I want to do all my sets beforehand in live or something, which sounds really boring. What's an inexpensive solution for this? Should I sell the konnekt for a similar interface with a cue jack?

I just want to get a feel for what kind of setups you people have. I'm sure if i got into it I could get a hardware mixer with a proper crossfader, EQ and cue, but I just want to dabble for now until I decide I like it. So basically my question is, is it realistic to try to learn traktor without cue, or is the only way to get into DJing to invest?

serato has a new product called "itch" which is for djing with hardware interfaces... look it up

right.. that didn't help at all

http://serato.com/itch

it's not too complicated. play yer mp3s from yer computer with cuing and shit. and you only really have to buy the midi controllers which there are a handful of so you can pick what you like.

I like Traktor because it has lots of delicious effects.

Also, this thread is relevant to my interests, as I too will soon be DJing and don't currently have an interface with which to cue.

Well, I have one, but my firewire port emits a terrible noise when in use, so I can't really use it.

Having an interface that lets you cue is not entirely needed to get a start. While your practicing and figuring out how to mix tracks, or what tracks go good together, you don't need the ability to cue since you can just listen to it over your sound system or headphones. If your using a desktop computer, sometimes you can trick the internal audio chip into using the Line In jack on the back as a second output. To do this I think you go into the Audio control panel and set your speaker setup to 5.1 surround. Not sure how widely this trick works, but just about any Realtek internal audio I've encountered on desktops is capable of doing it.

Perhaps more important at this stage is figuring out how you are going to control the software, if at all, because you have a plethora of options and this will ultimately help determine what you want from an audio interface.

You can use the internal mixing controls in Traktor to do all your mixing which circumvents the need for an external mixer. You'll probably want some kind of MIDI interface though to give you a physical way to go about controlling it. If you want to go on the cheap, I use a nanoKontrol when I'm on the road and it works great. If you want to spend more money there are a lot of DJ controllers out there, though imo most of them are way overpriced for what your getting (especially if they are dj specific rather than a more generic midi interface like a knob/fader bank). Most of these also don't solve the problem of cueing your tracks over some headphones.

Anther option is to use an external mixer of some kind. Here things split off a bit. On the low end of the spectrum there are inexpensive dj mixers that have built in audio interfaces, some for each channel on the mixer. Numark makes a USB dj mixer for about $70 that has two internal audio interfaces (both USB). You can then have each deck in traktor output to these channels and use the mixers cue features to cue up your tracks. Unfortunately when it comes to this route it seems like there isn't a lot of middle ground, your either stuck with a number of low end mixers or really expensive ones. I have one of the Numark USB ones, and while it does the trick and can double as an input for recording it blows on the sound quality and your better off mixing internally.

You can also buy an audio interface and a traditional DJ mixer and hook them up that way, or just an audio interface and a midi controller and mix internally. Personally I'd save your money and go with either of these options since a good audio interface can be used for a lot of different things and will retain its value better than a one off DJ interface that leaves a lot to be desired. The important thing to keep in mind is you will need at a minimum 2 audio output channels. How you use them depends on your setup. If internally mixing, one channel for your mixed output and one channel for your cue, if externally mixing one channel for each deck with the mixers cue jack doing the rest.

Personally I prefer using a traditional DJ mixer because they are more purpose built, tend to be a lot more solid and are not quite as overpriced.

Drahken, thanks for the extremely helpful post. Is this the cheap USB mixer you're talking about? That seems like a good option. I already have some good controllers (A Novation Remote 25SL, Maschine) that I can set up with Traktor's internal mixer. I just lack a cue headphone jack and a crossfader. This is my audio interface:

The 2 1/4" outputs are connected to L/R on my active monitors. It looks like I can assign the S/PDIF as a seperate output which i could use for cue, but how can I use that connection with my headphones?

Sorry for being a dick Yek, haha.

Yea that's the one, really it isn't so bad, I mean the thing is dirt cheap for a mixer with two USB soundcards...But the sound comes out all muddy, teh gains really blow, and having only 2 eqs makes it pretty useless on the whole of things. What I ended up doing was using the crossfader and cue jack, with a MIDI controller to adjust the EQ in Traktor. I eventually gave it to a friend I think.

I believe you can get S/PDIF adapters so if thats the case I'd try that. Just check in Traktor first to make sure you can assign the S/PDIF as your cue output and you should be good to go.

I use Traktor on a laptop that has a m-audio firewire card with 4 stereo outs that go into a 4 channel dj mixer.

Traktor is controlled with 2 midi controllers, a bcr and a korg faderpad.

Use the controllers for everything, browsing, loading tracks, cueing, syncing, looping, etc.

Works perfectly and gives you the possibility to really do a performance as opposed to just standing there and pressing play every now and then.

Whatever you do, at least get a soundcard with individual outs and a mixer.

Traktor's internal mixer, especially its filters, sounds horrible.

Yes it is EASILY possible to learn Traktor without having an isolated cue headphone point!!!

just go for it man, lots of experimenting and fucking about in your spare time, when you play live of course stick with those tracks you know that melded well...

then when you have a setup that gives you that headphone ability then fuck yeah use it!!! (I'm waiting til I get payed soon but Native Instruments have their own soundcard specifically for Traktor and the like... I'm definitely going to get it soon because Traktors own controller is a big full of fun!!)

cool, thanks everyone!

I really want to get a Vestax VCI-100 personally.

Ableton is really easy to dj with. Just a question of taking out the various frequencies to mix in tunes (cut bass, mid or hi) and finding good points at which to introduce new tunes. The more you do it tho the more you'll get a feel for what tunes gell together etc. Obviously its important to make sure your tunes are at the same level so a quietly mastered track might need some extra gain for instance. I dj with live but at some point I'd like to get some cdjs and practice that way just 'cause its less hassle than carrying around a laptop.